One morning I was running late for work, per usual. My gas gauge was noticeably low, but I didn’t stop for gas, knowing that stopping would add to my tardiness. I guess you can say I like to live on the edge, or maybe it’s a genetic thing.

See, growing up, my father was notorious for letting his car run out of gas–while his kids were still in it. It was so bad in fact, that there was this one spot on the road that we knew if we got past it, we were somehow in the clear. We knew the spot well because we had walked the few miles from there to the gas station a few times. Perhaps this was a game. I don’t know why he would do this exactly. He claimed the gas gauge was broken. In fact, there were other places at other times, in other areas of California that we also ran out of gas, but that’s another story. I think he liked to live on the edge, or maybe it was something else, maybe his reasoning skills are broken. And Dad, if you’re reading this, you know it’s true. Back in those days, you could hitch-hike to a certain extent without the same kind of worries that you have today. Needless to say, I grew up thinking running out of gas was sort of fun? Now I know that it’s terrible for your car, ruining pipes and so forth and being in L.A., it’s definitely dangerous. So let’s just say that I don’t wait until the last-minute any longer.

I had run out of gas a long time ago, around the age of 18. The steering wheel had locked up, something I didn’t know about at that time. It was scary, but I was lucky because a police officer had seen me, pulled over, and literally pushed my car with his car, around the corner to a gas station. Was he another Earth Angel?

So here I was, driving to work, with a very low gas tank. Traffic had come to a stand-still and I started to really worry. I was on the freeway and I really didn’t know for sure if I was going to make it to the next exit. Sitting there, in traffic, not moving, was lowering my chances of EVER making it to work. It was a hot day, but I knew better than to run the air conditioning or else I definitely wouldn’t make it off the freeway.

I finally made it to my exit and my gas tank still hadn’t hit the R yet. I was convinced that I could make it all the way to work as long as it didn’t hit the R. That was, until that familiar feeling in my steering wheel hit. Right as it did, it dawned on me that I had just passed a gas station. I immediately flipped a u-turn, struggling with my steering wheel. It just so happened that there were no cars on the street at that moment when I did this, and this is L.A. in the Wilshire district, making it a strange serendipitous coincidence.

As my car struggled on its last fumes, I attempted to roll up to a gas pump. This was going slightly uphill in the drive-way. I realized quickly that I wasn’t totally going to make it. As my car started to drift backwards, I immediately pulled the emergency brake to stop it from rolling back into the street. I had at least made it to the gas station. This was a true miracle.

I was feeling REALLY lucky at this point. I had just ran out of gas and for the life of me, I had no idea how I had been so lucky that I was able to literally roll right into a gas station. I am a glass is half-full kind of person, so I knew no matter what, I was going to feel lucky for the rest of the day. I felt like someone was watching over me. What if I had run out of gas on the freeway? I was in a fairly safe neighborhood in L.A. There was nothing that could keep me from smiling for the rest of the day.

Stupidly, I was un-prepared though. I didn’t know my debit card number by heart (still) and the gas station didn’t take credit cards. I didn’t have any cash on me and I couldn’t call anyone because my phone was dead. I didn’t have any change on me, not even a penny. At this point I was feeling like quite the idiot. I didn’t worry. I knew if I had to, I could walk to work, even if I was in heels…… it was only a couple of miles away. I knew there was a solution, I just didn’t know what it was going to be quite yet. The guy at the gas station wasn’t going to help me, nor was anyone in line, so I started walking back to my car, wondering what I was going to do next.

Luckily an Earth Angel came to my rescue. He asked me what happened to my car, (as he was getting gas) and I explained that I was an idiot and ran out of gas and that I’d use my credit card but they only take debit and I’d call someone for help but my phone was dead. I told him not to worry, that I would figure something out. He told me to hold on. I didn’t know what he meant but I said ok. And then he asked me to hold the gas pump. “Don’t put the pump back,” he said. He asked for my keys and so I gave my keys to him. I wasn’t worried about him stealing my car. It didn’t have any gas and his car was far nicer than mine, how would he drive two? So I waited, wondering what his plan was.

He got in my car, took the break off and with the help of another person, (another Earth Angel) who kindly jumped in, pushed my car up to the pump. He put $2 worth of gas in my car and told me where a nearby gas station was that took credit cards. I thanked him profusely and said, “I wish there was something I could give to you.” He said in return, “Just pay it forward.”

He was right. That kind of kindness comes from somewhere unexplainable, somewhere so sweet and true, it gives me goosebumps. I don’t know that I’ve paid it forward yet, not quite to that extreme, but I hope to be as kind, to be as wonderful as he and someday be someone else’s Earth Angel.